Lady Trojans field hockey turn tide in 41-second span, edge Warhill 2-1

New Kent’s Katie Fly (left) battles with Warhill’s Ava Harriss (right) to gain possession of the ball.

Robb Johnson photo

There are several things that can be done in 41 seconds, such as reheat a meal in the microwave or scroll on social media for the latest news. For New Kent’s Lady Trojans field hockey team, 41 seconds is all it took to swing the momentum of a contest for a win.

Riding the momentum of a successful victory at the Henrico tournament the previous weekend, New Kent pulled off a 2-1 win over the visiting Warhill Lady Lions in the Sept. 14 contest.

New Kent battled Warhill’s depth early in the contest, quickly turning away two goals within a 30-second span at the beginning of the game. And as time dwindled over the second and third periods, the ever-growing stalemate between both teams kept the scoreboard unchanged with both teams not yielding a goal to the other.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter where new numbers appeared on the board. New Kent had the first opportunity to score, but Warhill’s transition offense provided Lady Lion Ava Harriss the break the visitors needed. Harris found the back of the net to give Warhill a 1-0 advantage with 8:50 remaining in the quarter.

But New Kent didn’t let the visitors’ score deflate them. As the team whittled its way down the field, the Lady Trojans’ patience paid off, with senior Molly Milby’s score with 5:05 remaining knotting the score up. And the momentum continued 41 seconds later, as sophomore Olivia Allen maneuvered around defenders for goal number two for the hosts, providing New Kent a 2-1 lead with 4:24 showing on the clock.

New Kent’s defense now had to face an aggressive Warhill offense who attempted to score. But with one-minute remaining, the Lady Trojans were able to steal the ball and send it to the far side of the field, making any potential chance for the Lady Lions to score impossible as time expired.

After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojan Head Coach Cristen Sickal spoke about how proud she was of her team.

“We started the best we ever started, and they didn’t let that first goal from the other team crush them,” the elated head coach said. “They rallied, got a goal themselves, and that gave them confidence and energy. And then they did it again.

“I told them to play every second of this game and that is what they gave me,” Sickal concluded.

New Kent’s record improves to 5-2 on the season.